Bill Kowba

Education: Bachelor’s degree in history, St. Bonaventure University; master’s degree in history, University of Richmond; master’s degree in resource management, Webster University; master’s in business administration in accounting and marketing, UCLA.

Bill Kowba, a retired Navy rear admiral and trusted administrator, has been named superintendent of the San Diego Unified School District.

In a hastily scheduled announcement Tuesday, the board of education ended a four-month search for a schools chief by identifying the district’s interim superintendent as its choice for the job

“I’m thrilled. I have to step back and confirm that I heard what the board just said,” Kowba said upon learning that he won the job. “As excited as I am, I am under no illusions about how difficult next year will be for the district, given the budget projections.”

Kowba would take the helm of the district as it faces its worst fiscal crisis in recent memory. Just hours after the selection, trustees reviewed final cuts to bridge an estimated $134 million deficit to next year’s $1.1 billion budget. Projections for the following year show a deficit of up to $127 million.

Kowba was selected from three finalists whittled down from 37 applicants who included big-city superintendents, business leaders and others from across the nation.

Poised to become San Diego’s fourth superintendent in fewer than five years, Kowba has been championed by many as the key to restoring stability in a district that has been reinvented too many times.

“Stability is a key factor with Bill, but he’s also got integrity and he’s a quality human being,” said Bruce McGirr, director of the San Diego Administrators Association. “That doesn’t mean he’s a yes man. You can’t be a Navy rear admiral by being a yes man. He respects the chain of command.”

Camille Zombro, outgoing president of the San Diego Education Association, said most of 8,000 teachers her union represents have “a favorable opinion” of Kowba.

“We know who Bill Kowba is. He has proved himself to be a pretty good listener,” said Zombro, who was appointed to sit on the district’s superintendent search committee. “Our concern is that this is the person who’s signed, in all, over 1,000 layoff notices in the past year. He’s a numbers person, there is some human management to consider.”

Hired by the district in 2006 as chief financial officer, Kowba has served as interim superintendent twice. He was selected over nonprofit leader Debbra A. Lindo of Oakland and former Hayward Superintendent Dale W. Vigil.

“This was by no means a slam-dunk,” said board Vice President John Lee Evans. “We considered the pros and cons of every candidate.”

The district will negotiate a contract with Kowba in the coming days. He ﻿will succeed Terry Grier, who left after 18 months to lead the Houston school district last fall. Grier made $269,000 a year.

Kowba, 58, spent 30 years in the Navy before coming to San Diego Unified in 2006 as chief financial officer. He will be the district’s first superintendent without ﻿a background in education since then-U.S. Attorney Alan Bersin was hired in 1998.

Unlike most new superintendents, Kowba will not bring with him reforms or big personnel changes — the board has already established plans for both. However, Kowba and the board will jointly hire two deputies to oversee academics and business.

Ruth Johnson, a member of San Diego Unified’s PTA governing board, said campus volunteers and parent leaders have been rooting for Kowba.

“This district needs someone with good solid leadership and a financial background — that’s Bill Kowba,” said Johnson of Clairemont, whose six children graduated from San Diego schools.

San Diego Unified is the state’s second-largest school district. It enrolls about 130,000 students in 200 campuses and employs about 15,000 people, including 8,000 teachers.